One late fall Sunday in southern Minnesota, a farmer brings a load of soybeans to a local grain elevator - and a young man hits him on the head with a steel bar, drops him into the grain bin, waits until he's sure he's dead, and then calls the sheriff to report the "accident." Suspicious, the sheriff calls in Virgil Flowers, who quickly breaks the kid down...and the next day the boy's found hanging in his cell. Remorse? Virgil isn't so sure....

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Publisher's Summary

The brilliant new Virgil Flowers thriller from the number-one New York Times-best-selling author.

One late fall Sunday in southern Minnesota, a farmer brings a load of soybeans to a local grain elevator - and a young man hits him on the head with a steel bar, drops him into the grain bin, waits until he's sure he's dead, and then calls the sheriff to report the "accident". Suspicious, the sheriff calls in Virgil Flowers, who quickly breaks the kid down...and the next day the boy's found hanging in his cell.

Remorse? Virgil isn't so sure, and as he investigates he begins to uncover a multigeneration, multifamily conspiracy - a series of crimes of such monstrosity that, though he's seen an awful lot in his life, even he has difficulty in comprehending it...and in figuring out what to do next.

I think this is Sanford's best book yet. It is definitely the best Virgil Flowers book I've read. The flow of the story is perfect. Frighteningly, it is very believable and well researched. Unfortunately, these type of issues do exist to some extent. He put together a great mix of mystery, thriller, action, suspense and even some romance. Eric Conger did his usual good job with the narration, especially during the big scene. He made it come to life and make it a real white knuckle event. I Highly recommend this book.It is one of the best credits I've used this year!

This outing with Sanford's laconic Virgil Flowers solidifies the characters as one of the best in current police procedural fiction. Down-to-earth rogue Virgil is smart and sensible with an honest feel for the people of small town America. The smooth pace takes you from point to point, with Virgil always a step or two ahead. My new favorite character!

I had a hard time starting this one. The beginning is a lot of last names and info that just comes at you Maybe it was just me but I had a hard time with the first half of this one. Stick with it though. About halfway through the pace picks up and the pedal stays to the floor for the rest of the novel. Great book. I still like Davenport better than Flowers, but he's growing on me.

Hey... this is a totally good listen. More a police procedural than a mystery, it's still fun to take a ride with Virgil Flowers around the cold-weather cults. But to both get the nuances re. Flowers' character and to not ruin (there are spoiler alerts throughout this book) earlier Flower novels that are GREAT listens... Enjoy this Sanford novel AFTER the others in the series. Eric Conger is so comfortable that I've come to believe that he IS Virgil Flowers... crime solving and woman-loving cop. And the women are his bright, strong, equals. Hey... I gave it five stars.. so... I say... listen to Bad Blood, but do it in the order that Sanford's written these books. You'll thank me, or thank Sanford and Conger when you do.

I love that f****** Flowers! Once again John Sandford delivers another exciting Virgil Flowers novel. The beginning, middle and ending was great. Kudos to the narrator as well. Can't wait for the next adventure.

I've probably read or listened to at least 3/4 of the books John Sandford has published, and as far as I can remember, there hasn't been a clunker yet -- which is very unusual for a prolific writer like Sandford. The Virgil Flowers books -- as compared to the Lucas Davenport series -- have really grown on me. I like both series, but with Flowers, there's a subtle undercurrent of wily humor that's different from the Davenport series and it tickles my funny bone every time. Example? One of the officers has been on duty for a long time, 'I'm so horny,' he laments, ' that even the crack of dawn is lookin' good.'

Yup! Love those Virgil Flowers books, not just for the plot but for the giggles, too.

The story line in this one is horrific -- child abuse/molestation of the most evil sort, which Sandford -- wisely -- doesn't describe in intimate detail. We see the aftermath, we get to see the perpetrators, but we don't have to endure very much description of the evil itself -- which I appreciate. A great writer like Sandford can do that, make you feel it all without getting graphic..

On the face of it, the kind of evil Sandford describes is -- or should be -- almost impossible to believe as having taken place in one of the small farming towns in northern Minnesota, let alone perpetrated by the kind of apparent salt-of-the-earth people involved. And yet, I had to laugh at myself when at one moment during the height of the action, I had a wayward thought flash through my mind: 'How in the world did I miss hearing about this on the news?'

Ridiculous, of course. I know it's fiction, but Sandford manages to draw the reader -- or listener -- into the tale so completely that -- improbable as it might seem -- there was a mind bending moment that I forgot it wasn't actually true.

Now that's a great book -- and with Eric Conger does his usual perfect job narrating, it's a classic. Perfect accent, perfect intonation, perfect dry wit.

Virgil Flowers once again heads to rural MN to investigate a series of murders that turn out to be linked to practices within a church cult that include incest, rape and child molestation. Like the previous novels, Virgil's laidback style, likable manner and impecable judge of character help him build ties with the local police, romance women and slowly unravel a truth that is protected by a tightly knit closed community. Unfortunately, unlike the dark content of the other Davenport and Flowers books, the distrubing content of "Bad Blood" makes any ending unsatisfying and my desire to reread the book non-existent. Buy the book to keep up with Virgil, but for me it is definitely a one-time read.

Virgil is definitely growing on me although I still prefer Lucas Davenport. I found that I was rewinding alot in the first part of the book because I couldn't keep the names of all the characters sorted out but as the book progressed, it came together. I always enjoy a book that makes me chuckle out loud and that f@*^ing Flowers does just that.

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